Irish nursing expert Nuala Walshe visited Saint Xavier University’s Chicago campus recently to consult with the School of Nursing faculty and tour Saint Xavier’s facilities.

Walshe, who is the clinical skills manager and a faculty member at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland, visited Saint Xavier University, as well as Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, to get ideas about curriculum for a School of Nursing at her university.

Nursing programs in Ireland are transitioning from hospitals to universities, much like programs in the United States did in the 1950s. Walshe said she is looking for ideas on how to integrate clinical nursing skills into a university curriculum.

(l-r) Nuala Walshe, Anne Bavier, dean of Saint Xavier University’s School of Nursing, and Kay Thurn, associate dean of the School of Nursing, during a recent tour of Saint Xavier.

Kay Thurn, associate dean of Saint Xavier’s School of Nursing, and Suzanne Kimble, associate professor of nursing at Saint Xavier, first went to Ireland last year with some Saint Xavier nursing students studying hospice and palliative care, which began in Ireland.

Thurn and Kimble met Walshe in May 2006 when they took another group of 22 Saint Xavier students to Ireland through Saint Xavier’s Center for International Education. When Thurn learned that Walshe was coming to the United States in July visiting the other universities, she invited her to visit Saint Xavier as well.

Thurn said she hopes fostering such relationships will enable Saint Xavier to provide students with more nursing and health-related opportunities abroad. Saint Xavier currently has one nurse practitioner student in Galway, Ireland. Next year, Thurn said she hopes to have Saint Xavier nursing students "shadow" nurses in Ireland under the program.

There are many investments that a medical center must make in order to provide the best care for their patients. And while most hospitals are willing to spend money on new equipment and advanced technologies, they often overlook the most important investment of all—the education of their employees.

At Alexian Brothers Medical Center, personnel development is key to providing better patient care and a more efficient and highly trained workforce. To this end, they’ve created the Workforce Development Learning Institute, led by Chief Workforce Development Officer Kathleen Prunty. "The Brothers see their employees as strategic partners," explained Prunty, who was formerly the hospital’s vice-president of human resources and hospital services. "They believe in investing in their employees for the purposes of growth. Continuing education strengthens our employees’ abilities to serve our patients and each other."

Though the Learning Institute is still quite new, in the first quarter of 2006, more than 1,000 employees had already taken courses. "Participants include everyone from vice-presidents to CEOs to nurses and directors," said Prunty. "Because Alexian Brothers believes in building leadership from within, we understand how important it is to build business acumen and give support to employees who may have started in one role, but have since been promoted to supervisors, managers or directors."

It is Prunty’s mission to centralize all of the educational opportunities happening at the medical center and to align these with the strategy of the medical center and the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network. "Our first goal is to invest in and develop the talents of our employees," she said. "Our second goal is to meet the network’s initiative of ensuring employee, physician and patient satisfaction. Much of our coursework is built around these two goals."

Prunty is well suited to the position as she has spent much of her career in the medical field, as well as an executive coach. Before taking the position at Alexian Brothers, Prunty worked at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, before which she was the director of education at La Grange Hospital.

"I got into the medical profession in a really funny way," she said. "I was a chef at a fraternity house at Northwestern University, and I loved the job. But I felt I should do something else with my culinary gift. I realized that the worst food in the world was found in airplanes and in hospitals, so I decided to go to work as a chef at a hospital."

Prunty, who holds a dual degree in food and nutrition and in corporate communications from Rosary College, and an MBA in human resource management and healthcare administration from Dominican University in River Forest, IL, began working as a chef at Suburban Hospital. She also worked as a chef at Good Samaritan hospital, before moving on to leadership positions at Hinsdale and Silver Cross.

"After seeing an ad in the Sunday paper for the Rehabilitation Institute, I realized that it was a combination of all of the jobs I’d ever had," said Prunty, who is a senior disability ethics scholar and holds a certificate in disability studies. "I was there for five years and loved it, but the growth opportunity at Alexian Brothers was something I just couldn’t pass up." Prunty is also an adjunct professor at Dominican University, where she teaches courses in family communication and corporate communication.

As the head of the Learning Institute, Prunty is working to fast-track as many programs as possible. "We’re looking at all types of technology to bring education to the employees," she said. "Students will be able to borrow a video of a class, attend a class, or watch a video stream of the class which they can tap into at their leisure. We’re also working to utilize our in-house station and our web site to bring knowledge to our employees."

Alexian Brothers doesn’t charge employees for the classes, and also offers tuition reimbursement for certain degree programs that are currently taken at other schools. "Though the Brothers realize that not all of the employees who take these courses are going to be here a year from now, they understand that by providing this education, they are strengthening the whole healthcare system," said Prunty. "They know that the education they are giving employees will have wide-reaching impact."

"Education is a gift," summed up Prunty, "and it enables our staff to be ready and able to tackle whatever issues need to be tackled. While many hospitals are cutting back on this type of funding, Alexian Brothers is investing in its employees in a way that benefits everyone."

Health care is an industry that is faced, on a daily basis, with the challenges of adapting to ever-changing advances in technology. One area where this is clear is in staffing. According to Aletha Ross, Vice President of Human Resources at Advocate South Suburban Hospital it is an ongoing challenge to find a tech-savvy workforce.

Technological skills, in today’s job market, are as essential as a college education. Advances in technology make it necessary for higher education institutions to adapt methods of teaching and content. Ross estimates that 90 percent of today’s jobs are technology based, but fears higher education might not be prepared for this. "The educational system does not appear to have the funding to keep abreast of the changes," said Ross. "We have a significant segment of our workforce who lack fundamental technological training." She notices this in the first step of the job application process: some candidates are unable to navigate through the online application. Ross estimates that only about 60 percent of applicants to Advocate South Suburban Hospital are adept in technology.

One possible reason for the lack of technological proficiency in today’s workforce, according to Ross, is that educators are anticipating the need for computer skills in technology-based jobs, but not in other positions. In the hospital setting, she finds that many new employees have advanced training on specific diagnostic equipment, but do not have basic computer skills related to word processing or Internet navigation. "We have a gap to fill," said Ross.

Those workers who have been in their positions for a number of years also need to sharpen their computer skills, based on the fast-paced change cycle associated with the technology industry. "All workers need a fundamental understanding of how to use technology," explained Ross. "It’s not just clerical workers, it’s across the board."

Fortunately, the hospital offers numerous internal courses for its employees to stay abreast of changing technology. As part of Advocate Health Care, Advocate South Suburban Hospital’s employees can register for both classroom courses and computer-based learning programs. Course offerings include education in both advanced clinical technology and basic computer skills.